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| STS109D "Sarah" 1994-2006 |
| A few years ago I promised my husband and myself that I would not become too emotionally attached to my sheep - he was tired of seeing me crying over animals.... but there are some very rare and special animals that deserve to be mourned - and if we can't love, nurture, treasure and mourn our animals, then why are we flockmasters? Today was a hard day as I had to say goodbye to my 12 year old ewe "Sarah." She died peacefully and gracefully (of old age) but it's still hard to let go. Sarah was special in the flock because she was calm and friendly - she was one of the few of my sheep that let the children pet her. She was regal, dignified, independent and beauitful. |
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| During the three lambing years we had with Sarah, she produced 5 ewe lambs. I would go out in the early morning and there she would greet me with her babies following behind. She never needed treated for anything - she was vigorous and healthy and hardy. We weighed her when she was 10 years old and she weighed a healthy 160 lbs in October after having nursed twins all summer. Her biggest problem was very arthritic knees and her hind legs got increasingly weaker the winter of 05-06. One day she laid down and she just couldn't stand up anymore. Her legs had given out. For her last days she had a warm dry stall and got fed her favorite grain by hand several times a day, which she was very happy about. She is missed. |
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| Sarah's daughter are in our flock: Seraphima. We also have her granddaughter Serena. |
| This is my favorite photo of Sarah. This was our "secret meeting place" where she would wait for me and I would bring her a treat of cob corn each day. We don't grain our flock, but for old Sarah a bit of corn each day was her well deserved treat. She'd wait for me in the small stable and I'd hand her her corn and the rest of the flock never caught on to us. Good bye Sarah. You were well loved and will be very much missed. |